Here's Your First Look at the Animated Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Discovery's crew is presumably lost in space, but the show's cast and crew beamed down to San Diego Comic-Con to drop some exciting clues about Season 3. Sonequa Martin-Green, along with executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, and Heather Kadin, assembled in Hall H to discuss what's in store for the CBS All Access series.

Alex Kurtzman broke major Discovery news early in the panel, revealing that the show is jumping almost a thousand years into the future in Season 3. This coincides with the end of Season 2 which saw the crew disappear through a wormhole, believed to be lost for good. Slingshotting the gang into the future means we can expect major changes next season. "There will be things you recognize, things you don't recognize," Kurtzman said. "I just want to assure you, first and foremost, that it's still Star Trek and it will always be Star Trek the way Roddenberry wanted it."

It was also announced that David Ajala will join the crew next season as Cleveland Booker, known to his peers as Book. Trekkies might recognize him from Jupiter Ascending, Falling Water, and as Manchester Black on Supergirl. The character is new to the Trek universe and is described as "smart and capable," with a "natural charisma and devil-may-care attitude that tends to get him into trouble as often as it gets him out."

It was also revealed that six more Star Trek: Short Treks are headed our way. One episode will serve as a teaser for Star Trek: Picard, providing backstory on what happened to the eponymous character in the 15 years since he left Starfleet. Another features Ethan Peck reprising his role as Spock, along with Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Anson Mount as Captain Pike. In an amusing teaser, which dropped during the panel (watch it above), it looks like Spock and Number One will spend quality time together while trapped in an elevator. Plus, another Short Trek promises the long-awaited arrival of the Tribbles, the beloved small but invasive furry creatures first seen in Star Trek: The Original Series.

Comic-Con attendees were also offered a first look at the art for the new animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, which centers on four funny ensigns below decks and will feature a brand new ship design and class, called the California class, executive producer Mike McMahan told the audience. "If you love #StarTrek, it's in a shared universe where there are jokes, and jokes that only you'll get," McMahan said. "But you don't need to know everything to like it."

The animated crew will be made up of colorful characters like Ensign Tendi, voiced by Noël Wells; Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero; Ensign Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid; and Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome. (Newsome will also host a newly announced Star Trek podcast, titled Prime Directive: The Official Star Trek Podcast.) The voice cast also includes Jerry O'Connell as Commander Ransom, Dawnn Lewis as Captain Freeman, Fred Tatasciore as Lieutenant Shaxs, and Gillian Vigman as Dr. T'Ana.

Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, and Star Trek: Lower Decks will be available to stream exclusively on CBS All Access.

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